So, student pilots.. Who are we and where do we stand?

I have 17 hours of lessons so far. Last lesson was my first solo (I did 3 touch and goes)!

Today was supposed to be my first cross country lesson (dual), but my flight instructor was ill and my next lesson isn't for a week.
 
Checkride scheduled with a different DPE for August 9th. First appointment he had available. Guess I should start studying.
 
All you peeps flying over my office (LAX) and never a wave or at least a waggle??? :confused:

That's it - SAM battery #2 is now active :nono:
 
Did the second hour of simulated IMC yesterday, fun with unusual attitudes and VOR tracking. I was able to handle four of them before my stomach had enough. Despite that I still managed to do my tracking after, as well as practice short fiel stuff. I had a mild headach the rest of the day.

CFI said basically I have my cross country stuff left, then polishing up for the test (which should eat up the last hour of hood work). He said my test will be on me before I know it, and I am in the home stretch. At least the cross country should be fun, CFI basically told me to go pick a few airports I would like to visit, and we will go have fun.
 
Soloed today after 22 hours. What an amazing experience...something I will never forget. (Got it all on gopro)

Went up with my CFI for a few warm up T&G's, then he hopped out and I was on my own. All the practice and training kicked in, and I greased 3 full stop , taxi back's.

The feeling of finally being up there on my own was incredible. :thumbsup:
 
Get your flight up on YouTube so we can see how you did!

We promise to be easy on you. :)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
RalphInCA said:
Get your flight up on YouTube so we can see how you did!

We promise to be easy on you. :)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Flying to Block Island 7am tomorrow morning for $100 scrambled eggs as my reward for soloing. Once I get back I will try to figure out youtube and get it posted here (if I can figure that out)
 
Just did my first solo as well! Think I'm closer to 32hours though. I've read a lot of people talking about how they were scared or nervous, but I actually felt really good. It was just another flight, just like the last, only quieter. Lately my landings have been really consistent, and I feel really comfortable with the pattern around Palomar, so since all I was doing was closed traffic full stops it wasn't really all that stressful. I feel like my instructor made sure I was more than ready, so it was pretty comfortable. I had a lot of fun! Cant wait to do it again in the morning :)

EDIT: My instructor emailed me this video of one of my landings last night.
http://youtu.be/28zO9hfhZ38
 

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Just passed my written exam on Saturday and have my check ride tentivley scheduled for mid August.. I'm sitting at 48 hours now.. I'm kinda disappointed that I only scored an 82% but at least I passed!!
 
First cross country today to Millville, NJ airport. Flight went fine, did not get lost, but did have some problems adjusting to a new setting. My pattern work was just not great in the new setting. On the other hand, I did find the emergency landing airport before the CFI did.
 
Hello all, I'm at upper 30's hours with 4 solo. I'm learning in a DA-20 C1 which I think I prefer to the usual 172's. My first solo went well, one moment of nerves after climbing out but then just all business. My second solo was one of those days where you just land and call it a day. I had taken some house headset with a ratty mic. My radio calls were all feeding back. Some guy wanted to take off while I'm turning final. Just a bunch of stress. Glad I got that out of the way.

Mastering landings is challenging with the DA, but I like that. The difference between a good flare and ballooning is just a few millimeters of stick pull. Gotta be spot on in steep turns too. No setting a trim wheel and turning a yoke right through it.
I have a x country this week, and looking forward to knocking that out. Gotta get my study on too.
 
Just started ground school for the 135 operation that I will be flying for. The student woes never fade.
 
I have just under 4 hours flight time. I took off and landed for the first time this am! Kind of knew he was going to let me take off. But the landing caught me completely by surprise. Normally where he takes over on landing he didn't. Just said you got it put her down:eek:. I made it look easy. But I was nervous as hell!!
 
Hey everyone, I'm new to the website, checking things out.

I'm a student pilot. I stopped logging my hours when I reached around 25 hrs and hadn't soloed. Still havent completed my solo requirements but i've knocked out all my other requirements minus my knowledge exam. Been training now for a little over a year, started off 2 times week and then quickly dropped down to once a week when grad school started.

I'm looking forward to interacting with everyone here.
 
Been flying a lot the last couple days. Did almost 5 hours since yesterday morning, all solo. Worked on various maneuvers yesterday morning, then worked on landings at another airport in the afternoon. Today I stayed in the pattern at Palomar and just worked on shorts and softs. It was incredibly busy this afternoon, and the radio calls were basically non-stop. The ATC was really on top of it though, and had it all very organized so really all I had to do was read back instructions every so often. I was doing full stop, taxi back landings and a few times I didn't even have to ask for take off clearance, they just saw me pulling up to the hold short lines and gave me the go ahead. I'm starting to feel much more relaxed and ready for that check ride. Looked at the track on my tablet after the last landing and kinda laughed. 1.7 hours of flying rectangles!

10392274_10204400013110569_8496102155961604367_n.jpg
 
Here is a link to my first solo flight on 7/24/14. This is the second landing at KISP. Pretty exciting for me, and I thought I would share it with the experts here for some feedback. Let me know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBjFQKuXK94
 
I have 50.2 hours complete. Need 1 more hour of IFR and 1 hour of Xcountry solo, and some prep for the checkride. That's it. Starting with a different instructor on Tuesday
 
I'm pursuing my PPL. I've got about 38 hours, with my first solo under my belt. Now I just have to do my night XC with my instructor, and my solo XCs, and by that time should have the required 50 hours and be ready for my check ride. Hopefully all goes well.
 
No one should be trying to make some hour number before progressing through solo, and checkride.

The real purpose of the training is to achieve a competency level under both calm and wind conditions. And to gain enough foundation when flying with a pro next to you that you will not hurt yourself or someone else once you get your cert and become a LOW TIME pilot.

The small cost of having that guy next to you during wind, and maneuvers will pay off later when you have to do all of it by yourself for several hundred more hours till you get solid.
 
I've finally had some time to study for my written. Weather has been pretty bad all summer and the 172 just got out of its 100 hour. So it's been probably 6 weeks since I've flown. I feel like I'm going to have to take a discovery flight when I get back out there. Anyway, I'm starting to feel comfortable enough to take the test. Been getting in the high 80s-low 90s on the different test apps I have. Study buddy and the program that comes with the asa guide
 
Did some pattern work today in the 172. My instructor got tired of me not using sight picture for controlling the airplane and covered up my airspeed indicator.

At first it was kind of disconcerting, but it soon got used to it. Definitely forced me to keep looking outside!

Fun stuff.
 
Got my signed off for my first solo cross country yesterday. Next flight n87 to MIV alone.
 
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Sing off? Oh hell - if I have to be able to carry a tune I better quit now :eek:
 
Had my first solo today. amazing how different i.e. more lively the airplane was. Great experience and more excited about this than ever.
 
I have my checkride scheduled for August 12th and I am slightly nervous ! :eek:

It is at an airport I have never been to and an area I have never been to.. This should be fun ! :)
 
Firefighter_324 said:
I have my checkride scheduled for August 12th and I am slightly nervous ! :eek:

It is at an airport I have never been to and an area I have never been to.. This should be fun ! :)
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Good luck! You and your instructor should make the trip there before so you can get the lay of the land. It make things a lot easier than just going into an unfamiliar airport cold.
 
jordane93 said:
Good luck! You and your instructor should make the trip there before so you can get the lay of the land. It make things a lot easier than just going into an unfamiliar airport cold.
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This is a good idea.
 
Not sure that will happen but I do get to fly us there to meet the examiner so I guess that's better than nothing.. I have the airport diagrams and satellite imagery of the area.. There are lots of vors and a few large landmarks so hopefully I can orientate myself quickly!
 
jordane93 said:
Good luck! You and your instructor should make the trip there before so you can get the lay of the land. It make things a lot easier than just going into an unfamiliar airport cold.
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The instructor should also sign you off to that airport, otherwise you are not "legal" to fly there for your checkride. My DPE sure asked for my signoff to his airport. :)
 
I am actually flying my instructor and another student over to that airport.. We couldn't find another instructor anywhere around here that wasn't scheduled out 2 months already..
 
Well, I'm half a step closer. Saturday, I got a call from another student at my airport who had his checkride scheduled earlier in the day (mine was scheduled at 1). Due to weather, the DPE wanted to squeeze my ground stuff in so we could see if the weather would clear up and we could both do the practical portion later in the day.

Unfortunately the cloud cover never really lifted; I think the highest ceiling I saw before nightfall that day was an overcast layer at 1,700. So I got a letter of discontinuance, and we rescheduled the practical portion for Thursday morning... at 6 AM. It's going to be a long day.

On the plus side, the oral portion of the exam is done, though I did feel like an idiot a couple of times, it wasn't too bad.
 
Sat down with my instructor again this morning for some more oral exam prep. This time I actually felt like I knew the answers to more than half the questions. Going up later today to do a maneuvers review, and planning on doing my last XC tomorrow. Checkride is scheduled for the 23rd.
 
Going to take my practice written for my CFI on Wed then take the real deal soon after. . I really need a break in our crap weather to get back in the plane so I can start preparing for the check ride!
 
My checkride is scheduled for Saturday. Both the club's 150s are down right now (one for a 100 hour, other to replace a cracked fuel tank). Hopefully one is available for me to get a couple more hours in before Saturday.
 
Firefighter_324 said:
It's "check ride eve" for me.....
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aggie06 said:
My checkride is scheduled for Saturday. Both the club's 150s are down right now (one for a 100 hour, other to replace a cracked fuel tank). Hopefully one is available for me to get a couple more hours in before Saturday.
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good luck you's guys!
 
Well.. I am now within 4 hours of my requirements for the IR Check Ride and yet again, my airplane wants to go in the shop for a few weeks. Every time I start making good progress, I am kicked to the back of the line to play catch-up. :(
 
Finally back in the plane today after 2 months off! We just went out to the practice area to do steep turns then came back for some landings. Steeps turns were pretty awful. Feel for the plane was all gone plus there was no visible horizon. 4 out of 6 were within PTS but I wasn't proud of any of them. Landings were 3 of my best, go figure. And that was with about 10kts cross. Got signed off for my written today as well.
 
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